To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his speech to Airlines UK on 25 January 2017, on what grounds he asserts that the doubling of the world's aircraft fleet over the next 20 years and the introduction of cleaner and more efficient aircraft will deliver a fall in global carbon emissions.
Answered on
7 February 2017
While the global aviation fleet is expected to double over the next 20 years, action taken by the industry, governments and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to effect carbon reduction means that the total carbon emissions from the sector will not rise in line with growth in demand. This will be achieved through a combination of factors, including the development and adoption of new technologies, operational efficiencies, greater use of sustainable aviation fuels, and offsetting through schemes such as that agreed at last year’s ICAO Assembly.
Specifically, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has committed, on behalf of the global aviation sector, to continuously improve the CO2 efficiency of civil aircraft by an average of 1.5 per cent per annum from 2009 until 2020, to achieve carbon neutral growth from 2020, and to reduce its carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2050 compared to 2005 levels.